Thursday, April 07, 2016

JUMPING OFF A TRAIN

I
had no idea where it was going, but in my mind I thought it might get
me to Sri Lanka.

The
train was old and moved slowly.

It
was a hot and bumpy ride.

I
was sitting next to man who said that he worked for the government.

Becoming
nostalgic for America, I asked him if he knew who Johhny Carson was,
but he shook his head "No".

Then
I saw a shiny metal box that triggered a paranoiac reaction.

I
said to myself "Bomb".

I
had to get off of the train before it exploded.

I
walked to an open door of the train car that I was riding in and
looked out.

I
said to myself:

"I
will jump when I see a lot of green", knowing that when I jumped
I wanted to land on something soft.

The
train had just gone by a field of tall and bright-yellow mustard
plants when Isaw
the green.

I
jumped.

I
hit the ground and rolled.

The
impact smashed the round, gold-rimmed glasses I was wearing, and I
was left now only with my dark sunglasses; but luckily they were
prescription lens...otherwise I would have been a blindman because I
am both so near and far-sighted.

I
brushed myself off and was thankful that I wasn't hurt.

It
was getting dark and cooler.

It
also started raining.

I
looked around for shelter.

I
saw a tall mound of hay, and thought it might protect me.

I
went to it and sat down, pulling hay over me, but the hay didn't stop
the rain or shelter me from it.

But
it was only a light rain, and then it stopped.

Up
ahead was a light.

It
was a small wooden enclosure with two Indian men inside.

They
offered me tea.

They
wanted to know who I was.

What
was my name?

I
shrugged and pretended that I didn't understand.

One
of them pulled out a map of the world.

I
pointed to South America, and started speaking some Spanish.

I
didn't want them to know that I was an American.

I
wasn't sure that India (or at least these men) liked Americans much.

They
shook their heads some more.

I
drank my tea and left.

It
was getting late, and I was now very tired.

I
saw a canopied wooden bin that was filled with corn meal.

I
stepped inside it, covered myelf with the corn meal, and went to
sleep.

When
I woke up the next morning I couldn't find my dark sunglasses.

I
got out of my warm bed and
started protesting to people around me.

I
was waving my arms and pointing to my face, and holding an imaginary
pair of glasses to my face.

Then
I held the proxy frames up to the sun.

Finally,
one person pointed in the direction of a fenced building (it was a
factory of some sort).

I
walked to the fence, and as I was walking, a sheperd with a stick was
guiding his "flock" of pigs down the road.

It
was quite a sight to see the little pigs obediently following him.

I
got to the fence.

Someone
came out and handed me my sunglasses.

I
was very relieved to get them back.

Below
is a poem that I wrote about this part of my adventure.

I
walked & walked until my shoes fell off.

When
I saw green I jumped off the old train.

When
I hit the ground & rolled over I was

Surprised
I was alive.

I
had bruises.

I
walked into a medical clinic.

They
said I

Was
ok & so I left.

I
had on my dark sunglasses, mysterious-looking dark stranger,

Wandering

The
sky got gray, the night got

Cold

It
started to rain.

I
climbed onto a Haystack to cover myself with straw (it was a lousy
idea)